


Empathy

by Platawolf



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Original Character-centric
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-22
Updated: 2016-07-21
Packaged: 2018-07-25 23:48:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7551919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Platawolf/pseuds/Platawolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A child who never existed. Events which never occurred. The tale of a soul that never ventured through the underground before the final fallen child and their adventures that were erased from history.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Empathy

**Author's Note:**

> The beginning of a new series? Or perhaps merely another chapter of half baked ideas in an endless sea of imagination. We shall see.

Ch 1: Memories in the Void 

I am nothing. I am everything.

                 Watching the endless unfolding of the near infinite strands of time. Knowing the conscious thought of all of living things that once existed, will exist, and will never be. Standing in the blackness of the void, watching the many colors of the universe flicker in all directions. Observing the very fabric of the universe as all of eternity passes before my eyes in but an instant. I can do all of this, yet I still can’t order a pizza.

                It’s not an unreasonable demand. All I want is a medium cheese pizza (toppings if possible, but I’m not asking for a miracle here) delivered to the void where time and place have lost all meaning. Alright maybe it is unreasonable, but it’s not exactly a tall order. The doctor says it’s just my returning consciousness trying to cling to what threads of my existence and personality still remain in the void. Personally, I think a pizza sounds like a nice snack to have while watching all of existence pass before me, similar to a movie who’s plot and characters I lost track of an infinite amount of time ago.

                Me, the doctor, and the others have been stuck here since, well, I guess that’s irrelevant with the whole never existed thing. I’m still having trouble wrapping my intangible head around that idea. For what seemed like an eternity, and it might have very well been, it felt as though I was scattered across all of the universe, like atoms caught it cosmic wind or a pancake made using a steamroller. Suddenly I felt as though something had grabbed every little bit of me at the same time and shoved it all back into an object that is roughly in the shape of my body. It felt like having every bit of yourself simultaneously burned, frozen, stretched, crushed, and roughly massaged at the same time.

 Next thing I knew I was standing (or floating) alongside the doctor in an empty black void. Well it looked like the doctor, though it was a bit gooier and cracked that I remembered him being. I hadn’t really thought about what I looked like until that moment and I realized I couldn’t see myself. I couldn’t even feel anything, expect fear and panic. What scared me the most was how calm the doctor seemed at the moment; despite the fact I thought for sure he’d be livid at me after what I had done.  His empty black eye sockets regarded me with the same sparkle of curiosity that I recognized from the first time we met.

                The others were here to, all taking form in a ghostly grey silhouette. All of them still held the same expression they had at that moment, unflinching and unchanging. They stood there in such silence that you could have heard a mouse eating cheese (if mice or cheese even existed in this place). They continued to stand in solemn silence for some indescribable amount of time, even despite my many times I asked them if anyone had a working cellphone. They were frozen in their final moments.

                “What do you remember?” The voice was foreboding and familiar, but I could not identify its source. After a few seconds of panic I realized it came from the blob that I assumed was the doctor. I had never understood him so clearly before, that special language of his had always given me trouble, but now it sounded clear as crystal.

               Remember. That word triggered something in me. For the first time I began to consciously collect myself. I felt the wiggling in my fingers. I felt the breath in my throat. I felt a slight stiffness in my neck. I began to remember.

\---

                “Human!” They screamed “A Human is coming!” Toriel dropped her groceries and sprinted towards the entrance. A groups of snails let out a sigh of relief and began to flee from their paper bag prisons. Monsters rushed past her as they fled deeper into the ruins. This worried her more than usual. Humans had fallen into the underground before, but never before had never seen monsters so scared.

                She tried to ask the oncoming monsters about what was going on, but they continued to rush past her in a frantic stampede. She caught a Whimsul with a stare that petrified him enough to stop midflight and caused him to almost crash into a pillar. She barred his way and gathered her most authoritative and controlled voice “Has a human fallen into the underground?” she paused briefly “Are they alright?” for a moment her face changed from authority to concern.

                “Um er, uh yes my que- er uh, Toriel” The frightened fairy began to consider if it would be better to take his chances with the human as they continued to stutter “But this one, it’s not like the others” its voice grew somehow fainter and quivered even more. He described a human covered in glistening silver scales, speaking in manner like the humans from the war were said to have, and wielding weapon of immense power. The human was a warrior from the surface, here to kill all monsters.

                Without another word Toriel continued to push through the throng of fleeing monsters. She ignited a fire in palms and charged towards the entrance of the ruins. “Do they think we haven’t suffered enough?” her voice was full of hatred and grief in equal amount. She darted through the twisting hallways and deactivated puzzles, stopping only when she came across the first of the humans victims.

                They weren’t in too bad of shape. Many had a few bruises and some oddly shaped lumps, but little more than the occasional bandage was seen as they continued past her without much difficulty. Toriel spotted a crumb covered Froggit with comically large red bump on her forehead.

                “Did the human do this?” She asked, now more confused than furious. She remembered the humans from the war. They were relentless, merciless, killing machines. It was rare for a monster to survive their attacks, even more so without falling down soon after or receiving a crippling wound. This many monsters could not have escaped so easily.

                The Froggit gave a slight, irritated, meow and answered “Ribbit” *I ran into them in the lever room. It shouted at me, asking something about where the monsters were. I tried to explain to him that I was a monster, but during the conversation he suddenly winced and attacked me with that strange sword of theirs.*  The Froggit wiggled its bruised forehead for emphasis. “Ri- “she continued “bit” *then they apologized, gave me part of their stale blade and continued to try and solve the level puzzle. I never understood what was so difficult about it, the levers are right behind the pil-.*

                Toriel left the Froggit and continued through the ruins. It was the same story with every monster she met. The human would confront them and announce they were a knight sent here to defeat the evil monsters and rescue all those trapped here. They would then attack, apologize, give them some food or Band-Aids and continue along. Toriel did not know what to expect, but she kept he palms lit and her eyes locked forward. At last she came to the spike room and heard the human’s voice coming from the next room.

-

                The knight raised his shield and swung his blade in a fluid and practiced arc. His foe stood before him, no doubt some sort of slime or evil gelatinous creature that wished to devour him and dissolve the very skin from his bones. He would give it no such chance.  “Have at yee vile fiend!” He shouted heroically at the green mass “I have come to defeat thee and rescue all those trapped within your horrid lair. Now draw your arms and prepare to fight!” He twirled his blade in challenge. The monster wiggled back in response. The knight twirled his blade once more. The monster replied in kind, like a block of jello having a polite and meaningful conversation. The knight sighed as he lowered his blade and took a small nibble out of it. The jello beast slid away without much hurry.

                “I thought they said this place was full of monsters” he mumbled to himself as he vented his frustration into the juice box as he stabbed the plastic straw into it. He was already running low on supplies, despite the fact that he had only been here for a few hours. He never realized dungeon crawling would be so tiring. He had already run through most of his supplies and had resorted to eating his replacement sword. It wasn’t really much of a hero’s weapon, but he had to make do after he realized he had forgotten to pack his real one. He made camp in the room as he observed the jello monster join a few other slimes as they began to wobble together in unison.

                How could he be a brave knight without monsters to fight? So far everything he had faced took only one hit before they looked really hurt. He didn’t want to hurt anyone, just kill the evil monsters and free whoever was trapped here. Mount Ebbit was the place people went to and were never seen again, clearly it was some kind of underground lair for 8ft tall, terrifying beast that breathed fire, and had huge fangs and horns. So far all, all the “monsters” he encountered were frogs, roaches, big flies, and now jello. People had laughed at him when he claimed the mountain was full of monsters that were stealing children and eating their souls. Now he realized it did seem a bit farfetched.

                He began to take another bite of his weapon when he heard something moving towards him form the next room. Was it a monster? The fear he felt accumulating in his gut told him it was something far more powerful than anything he had encountered so far. Despite his fear, he smiled. A true knight proves themselves overcoming such challenges. He raised his and sword and shield. He planted his feet into the ground. He readied himself for the upcoming battle. As the figure took shape in the dim light of the door way he bravely scurried behind a nearby pillar. He carefully peaked over the edge.

                It was more terrifying then he had imagined. Sure it wasn’t exactly what he expected, but it was tallish (bigger than anything he had seen previously), had fire, and he could see that it did have some small horns. It walked into the room and stopped in front of the pillar and stopped down to pick up something. The brave warrior held his breath as he quietly worked his way around the pillar and appeared on the other side. The monster had his back to him, if he struck now he would have the upper hand, perhaps he would even be able to beat it.

-

                A juice box? Toriel examined the half full container. It was clearly human in origin, but she couldn’t recall adult humans ever using one, it was something more fit for a chil-

                “I am Sir Knight of the human realms!” A loud and wavering voice announced from behind her. She spun around fast enough to send the juice flying across the room as she raised he flaming palms. “Face me if you dare!” As she looked forward she saw only empty hallway, only when she tilted her head down did she find the voices origin.

                Her face instantly relaxed and her palms extinguished. It was a human child, perhaps a few years older than the others who had come before. The human wore a grey backpack over the front of his body, holding a brightly colored piece of cardboard in one hand, and in the other was a long loaf of half eaten bread. On his head sat a colander that was loosely fastened around his head with a bit of yarn. The human quivered but held their ground. They were scared, as they always were, and her face became a warm, loving, smile.

                “It’s not safe for human children to play in the ruins” She said in a voice gentle as a mothers could be.  She held her hands together in front of her, trying to be least threatening as possible.

                The human didn’t try to attack, act, or flee. They stood their staring at her. 

                “If you would follow me, my child, I can get you a bed and something to eat. Do you like butterscotch cinnamon pie?” The human continued to look at her. Was she being too aggressive? Did they not like cinnamon? Maybe they did not like pie at all? As they stood there in silence she became very worried.

-

It was a monster.

But it was a monster offering free pie.

It might try to kill him.

But he might starve to death first, considering he went through a week’s worth of supplies in the span of an afternoon.

Maybe it was a trap?

But who would ever lie about free pie? That’s something not even the most evil and heartless of monsters would do.

He came to a decision.

                 “I accept your offer!” he announced, keeping his voice heroic as possible despise the fact part of his mind told him he was possibly surrendering his life for pie. “I, brave knight of the humans, will accept this peace offering. But be warned, for I am not easy to trick."

-

                 Toriel raised a hand to cover her giggling. “Of course, my brave knight, please take my hand and I will show you the way home”. The child sheathed his bread in his grey backpack that he flipped from his chest to his back and took her hand. Together they made their way through the ruins.

\---

                 “Interesting” the blob formerly known as Dr. Gaster concluded. “Your memories seem to begin upon your entrance into the underground” It seemed as though the doctor was attempting write notes by waving his unattached arms through the abyss. “This must be linked to your recent reconciliation into existence, my current prevailing theory is that due to the magical properties of the underground and your higher than average determination levels-“

                 I stopped listening at that point, as I was too fascinated with being able to see my arms again. I couldn’t remember where or when I got them. Did I always have these arms? When did I get this particular pair? Why were they so small? These were the size of a child’s. Then it hit me like a loaf of stale bread. I’m back to the age when I first entered the underground. I found myself equipped with my old knightly attire, bread sword and all.

                “Further development” Dr. Gaster continued “As your body begins to reform itself, your soul is attempting to restore yourself to a previously established conditions.” Gaster folded his floating palms together as his rigid face stared at me from a distance that was both incomprehensibly far away and close enough I could have smelled what he had for breakfast, if he ever ate that is. “In summary, your soul if attempting to load old save files by using what memory it can extract.”

                Loading a save. Now that was a concept I understood. Doing all those experiments was a good idea as it turns out. Guess Gaster was right on that one. “So Doc, how do I get back into the underground then? Or any part of the world I guess?” I asked, taking a few practice swings with my baguette blade.

                The good doctor took a moment to think despite not really needing to “Your body formed itself based off your current recalled memories. My thesis is as you remember more you will continue to develop and reinforce your physical structure.”

                “So try and remember more then?”

                “Precisely”

                “Well here goes nothing then” I closed what I imagined were my eyelids and my mind drifted back to the ruins of the underground.

**Author's Note:**

> With the beginning finished, the story may truly begin. Perhaps the next chapter may come out within a week. Who can say? If this receives some interest I may look for an editor or at least an extra pair of eyes to help shore up and speed up the process. My first project after a long hiatus, comments welcomed, criticism appreciated.


End file.
